Wet wipes are well known commercial consumer products which have been available in many forms. Perhaps the most common form of wet wipes has been a stack of moistened sheets which have been packaged in a plastic container. The wet wipes have been made from a variety of materials which have been moistened with a variety of suitable wiping solutions. Typically, the wet wipes have been available in either folded or unfolded configurations. For example, stacks of wet wipes have been available wherein each of the wet wipes in the stack has been arranged in a folded configuration such as a c-folded, z-folded or quarter-folded configuration as are well known to those skilled in the art. Each folded wet wipe has also been interfolded with the wet wipes immediately above and below in the stack of wet wipes. In an alternative configuration, the wet wipes have been in the form of continuous webs of material which include perforations to separate the individual wet wipes and which are wound into rolls and packaged in plastic containers. Such wet wipes have been used for baby wipes, hand wipes, household cleaning wipes, industrial wipes and the like.
The solutions incorporated into conventional wet wipes have usually included a number of ingredients intended to enhance or impart particular properties to the wipe. These properties have related to, for example, cleaning efficacy, fragrance, medication, reduced irritation, skin health, aesthetics of the product and the like. For baby wipes, a solution providing a gentle soothing feeling without excessive irritation or foam while maintaining cleaning and antimicrobial efficacy is highly desirable for product performance. Suitable ingredients used to provide such properties have included water, emollients, surfactants, preservatives, chelating agents, pH buffers or combinations thereof. The solutions have also contained lotions and/or medicaments.
However, the conventional solutions and, in particular, the surfactants in such solutions for wet wipes have not been completely satisfactory. For example, to reduce the level of skin irritation, conventional wet wipe solutions have included amphoteric surfactants which generally cause little or no skin irritation. Such amphoteric surfactants have included sodium cocoamphoacetate and disodium cocoamphodiacetate. However, such amphoteric surfactants have typically not exhibited the high levels of cleaning efficacy associated with other surfactants such as anionic surfactants. Such amphoteric surfactants typically have also not provided the optimum silky feeling to the skin which is desired by consumers, particularly female consumers.
On the other hand, anionic surfactants, while exhibiting such cleaning efficacy, have generally caused excessive skin irritation such as dryness and scaling and, as a result, have not been suitable for use in wet wipe applications. The high level of skin irritation caused by such surfactants is particularly undesirable in female anal-rectal and perineal area medicament applications due to the tenderness of the vaginal and anal skin. Moreover, most anionic surfactants are suitable for detergent compositions due to their high levels of foaming and detersive activity. However, such foaming is generally undesirable in wet wipe applications and, in particular, in anal-rectal medicament wipe applications. Consumers who use wet wipes prefer that the solution from the wet wipes not leave any soapy or bubbly residue on the surface of the skin since the solution is usually not wiped off the skin after the wet wipe is used.
For a woman's anal-rectal and perineal area medicament wipes, a solution providing a gentle soothing feeling without excessive irritation or foam while maintaining cleaning and antimicrobial efficacy is highly desirable for product performance. The solution must be effective but also non-irritating and convey a sense and smell of freshness. Baby wipes are more for mild and effective cleansing whereas the novel wipes disclosed in the present application are designed for mild and effective cleansing but also soothing relief.
Accordingly, it remains desirable to provide solutions for wet wipes which include surfactants which exhibit improved cleaning efficacy while not causing excessive skin irritation or foaming.
It is highly desirable to use a surfactant that is specifically designed for cleansing the delicate and sensitive skin of the female anal-rectal and perineal area. The betaine class of surfactants are desirable because they provide effective cleansing, generally do not foam and are known for their mildness characteristics.